Immigrants woes continue

As the National Party’s Immigration spokesperson, my priority has been advocating for migrants who have been split from their families by Covid-19 and by New Zealand’s closed border.

In recent months I have heard countless heart-breaking stories of separated families – hundreds from people who have emailed or messaged me, and many more as I have met people throughout the country including at a recent Reunite Families protest at Parliament.

I have been moved to tears by their situations. They include people who last saw their babies 400 days ago, when they were only a few months or even days old. I have talked to fathers who teach maths in New Zealand classrooms, and mothers who nurse premature babies in our hospitals. When I get to go home after work and hug my eight-year-old son, I feel their pain deeply.

I have been continually calling on the Government to give split migrant families some certainty and assurance. My questions in the House to Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi have been met largely by dismissals and fob-offs. Minister Faafoi has been cruelly silent to these families – despite belonging to the so-called Government of ‘kindnesses.

As I write this column, I am preparing to put tough questions to the Minister at select committee. I have also called for Parliament to open an inquiry into migrant issues caused by Covid-19.

MPs must look closely at the many issues’ migrants are facing and challenge the government to find solutions.

One group I have lobbied strongly for are our migrant nurses. Nurses who arrived here before our border shut have been caught by a policy anomaly, unable to bring their families here – even though nurses who have come here since July have been able to do so.

New Zealand desperately needs these nurses. We are around 1,000 nurses short across the country and starting the biggest vaccination programme in our history. We cannot afford to lose these valued migrants because they are being kept from seeing their families.

It is clear that Minister Faafoi does not have a plan. More and more inconsistent decisions are being made by Immigration New Zealand. Entertainers and sportspeople can come here – but not the families of our critical healthcare workers.

We do need to let in people and groups that support our economic recovery – but not at the exclusion of migrant families.

The Minister must come up with a fair and common-sense plan to weigh competing interests.

With every passing Day of Silence and inaction, Jacinda Ardern and Kris Faafoi risk losing more of our migrant workforce and eroding New Zealand’s reputation on the world stage as a welcoming destination for migrants. Migrants are being told by this Labour Government that they do not matter, they are not cared about, and they will not be heard.

The National Party has always valued migrants. They are our neighbours, our co-workers and members of our churches and community groups. We recognise the incredible contribution they make to New Zealand.

I will continue to be a strong champion for our Indian community and all of our migrants, and I will keep pressuring the Government to hear their voices and give them answers.

- Erica Stanford, National MP from East Coast Bays and Immigration spokesperson